Martin Fischer-Dieskau is a German conductor, currently Music Director-Designate of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra

Taipei Symphony Orchestra

The Taipei Symphony Orchestra , founded in 1969, is one of the leading orchestras based in Taipei, Taiwan.In these seasons, TSO works also with European Music directors and conductors, such as Reinhard Goebel, Martin Fischer-Dieskau or Maurice Steger.- Introduction :Under the direction of Felix...

.

Early life

Fischer-Dieskau was born in Berlin to a musical family; his father is the singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...

. Fischer-Dieskau's older brother, Mathias, is a highly regarded stage designer, and his younger brother, Manuel, is a cellist. Fischer-Dieskau claims that his desire to be a conductor dates from 1961, when he and his older brother visited a rehearsal of Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...

 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Deutsche Oper Berlin

The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...

, in which his father was starring.

Education

Fischer-Dieskau studied conducting, violin and piano in at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, the Hochschule der Künste

Berlin University of the Arts

The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...

 in Berlin and the Accademia Chigiana di Siena. He participated in masterclasses with Franco Ferrara

Franco Ferrara

Franco Ferrara was an Italian conductor.After obtaining diplomas in piano, violin, organ and musical composition at the Conservatory of Bologna, Ferrara began his career as violin player in Bologna, in Rome and in Florence, with the Orchestra of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino...

, Seiji Ozawa

Seiji Ozawa

is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...

 and Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

. From 1976 to 1977 he was a laureate in the German Music League's National Selection of Young Artists, and in 1978 and 1988 was awarded scholarships by the Leonard Bernstein Fellowship Program at Tanglewood.

Musical career

In the 1978/79 season, he was assistant conductor to Antal Doráti

Antal Doráti

Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...

 at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...

. After positions in Augsburg, Aachen

Theater Aachen

Theater Aachen is a theatre in Aachen, Germany. It is the principal venue in that city for operas, musical theatre, plays, and concerts. It is the home of the Aachen Symphony Orchestra. Construction on the original theatre began in 1822 and it opened on 15 May 1825...

 and Hagen, Fischer-Dieskau became principal conductor at Theater Bern in 1991. He was guest conductor at festivals in Helsinki and Granada, and served as artistic director of the 1993 Youth Festival at Bayreuth. He has held a professorship in conducting at the University of the Arts Bremen

University of the Arts Bremen

The University of the Arts Bremen is a publicly funded university in Bremen, Germany and one of the most successful ones whose roots in music, arts and design date back to 1873...

 since 1995. He has produced and hosted his own television series of eleven musical "tours" that were telecast throughout Germany.

From June 1, 2001 to November 2003, he served as artistic director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra in Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

, Canada.

Fischer-Dieskau has travelled extensively across Europe and North America for professional engagements, including with the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Moscow State Orchestra and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.

Recordings

• Concert for Lidice (BIS-CD-578), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, New Berlin Chamber Orchestra
• Humperdinck: Moorish Rhapsody/Sleeping Beauty (Naxos 8.223369), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra